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Tag Archives: remodel

I have been doing remodeling for about one year and my goal is to have a clean, simple, and comfortable home. I have de-cluttered quite a bit and most likely had way less clutter than the average home for starters.

Still, I find that I have too much stuff. My home is a little over 1200 square feet which was an average size home for a family in 1953 when it was built. I live there with my 2 rescued dogs and 2 rescued cats. So, 1200 and something square feet should be plenty of space.

Interesting enough is that I only actually use about half of my house — the kitchen, the bathroom, and my bedroom. In reality, I only need about 600 sq feet. The rest of the house mainly houses my stuff.

The de-cluttering I have done has been the easy stuff and some of the hard stuff. The easy stuff is what you don’t use or have used up and needs to be thrown away, I actually enjoy de-cluttering this stuff. Then there is the harder stuff: gifts, things you had as a child, memorable items, that sort of clutter. This is when it gets hard to de-clutter.

I have tried to be strong and remember that if I keep these items, I will only put them in a box and leave them there to deteriorate. That is a waste and a cop-out. By keeping items that I know I’ll never use doesn’t help me with my goal of clean and simple.

For instance, my mother gave me a set of beautiful china about 15 years ago that she bought at an estate sale. I love this set, but I have never used it and it has been in a box for about 15 years. Why would I keep this? My solution is to take pictures of it and then rehome it. This is the type of “stuff” that I find heart wrenching to re-home.

However, a box of fragile china is not going to make my home simple or comfortable, so out the dishes go!!

Next challenge——-my toys from when I was a child!! Now this is going to be a hard one!

How do you stand up to the challenge of getting rid of items that are dear to your heart???

I spent all summer working on my house painting, cleaning, de-cluttering. I had all of my hardwood floors refinished, so I had to move everything I own out!! This was my opportunity to get everything it top shape while the house we clear.

Since “all items” included all of my appliances and kitchen wares, it was hard to prepare meals. Mostly, I ate prepared foods or sometimes, just skipped it.

One Saturday I got up and started right in on painting. Around 3ish, I was really hungry. I thought, what could I get that would be good, that would last for at least 2 meals and not have to be heated or refrigerated. The answer: PIZZA!! Loaded with carbs pizza!!

My veggie pizza!!

I called and ordered it. I looked like a mess when I picked it up with paint in my hair and all over my clothing, but I was hungry!!

After arriving home, I put the pizza down on the dresser that was stored in the garage. My orange kitty, Josie, was there to greet me, I told her, let’s have lunch. She seemed pleased.

I went and opened an Ale-8-1, a local drink, and opened up the pizza box. Josie jumped up on the vanity next to the dresser so I spread some of her kibble onto the vanity, she likes to eat this way. Since she is now 16, Josie gets what Josie wants.

Josie contemplating her kibble

She smelled the kibble, but the smell of that pizza was too overpowering. She came over to smell the pizza. I am a vegetarian, so there wasn’t any pepperoni for her. Since cats are carnivores, I felt badly. However, she still seemed interested. I allowed her to smell around a bit, as I mentioned, she is 16. I pulled off some cheese for her and she was happy!!!

Smells good, but where’s the beef!!

What a nice lunch with a great friend. My Josie came up to my mother’s house 16 years ago next month as a stray the very day I moved into my house. I had wanted a cat when I bought a house, so Josie was welcome. She does great, but has arthritis as we all do as we get older.

So, if a little stray comes up needing a nice meal, you could be meeting a great friend!

I have been working on becoming a minimalist for some time now. It has been difficult because basically, I like “stuff”. I hate clutter and I love space,so what is a girl to do? So, my solution is to only keep what is necessary and what I truly love. No matter how much I like the “stuff”, when it’s constantly in your way, it’s annoying.

Recently, I have been remodeling my home. This included having all of my hardwood floors refinished. Well, anyone knows that means cleaning out the entire house of all items!! If anything would make me a minimalist it’s that. Having to move something out, store it, and move it back in really makes one wonder if an item is worth it.

Luckily for me, I have a small home and am always cautious about how much I allow to come in. For me, one item can mean stepping over something, there isn’t much closet space in a 1953 home. My home in 1953 was the average size home for a family of 4, now I cherish each inch of space for just one person. That’s how much more “stuff” we all have compared to 60 years ago.

Most were amazed that I could fit a household in a one car garage. I did have a utility room for my appliances and my bathroom was used to store lamps. Other than that, I got it all in the garage. Luckily, I do not use my garage for any extra storage, so it was pretty empty.

As I kept my items in the garage and then having to work around them a few times, some items were taken away. Restore loved me that week! They got, a set of gas logs, a firescreen, books, painting supplies, dishes, some small furniture, a microwave, and who knows what else. I was on a roll. Some items I realized I didn’t need since I never missed them while in the garage. My toaster for instance, I always thought I had to have one, they are a kitchen staple, then I realized that as few times as I toast anything, my oven worked fine. I learned to multiuse things instead of having separate appliances.

It was easy being a minimalist as a child because I didn’t have any money and my parents did not indulge me with “stuff”. I can remember having one winter coat, two pair of shoes, one doll, etc. I must have survived because here I am. I do remember one episode where my very indulged cousin called me on Christmas morning to see what I had “gotten”. I told her my list of gifts, which only included 2 items and then she replied, “Is that all”?. I had been pretty happy with my two items until she said that. Then I felt deprived as she began to tell me her long list of gifts. Did I play with my two items — yes. Did she play with her bountiful amount of gifts – most likely not. So why did it matter if she got 20 or 2 gifts, she probably only used 2.

Most of us can do with way less than we have, it’s hard to adjust to a minimal lifestyle when we are flooded with a constant flow of media telling us we need to indulge and how good it feels.

I have way less than I did before remodeling. My closet had all of the racks piled with stuff, when I painted that closet I decided to take them down. When I replaced the racks, I went back with the original 1953 galvanized bar for hanging items and a flat board for the shelf. Everything fits just fine. I can see everything and it look so neat and organized. I feel so much better than having racks full of clutter.

I’ve concluded that if an item is not needed or loved, then I will let it go.

Greetings,
I am Langston Kelly, I will write about dogs, cats, remodeling, mid century modern, hollywood regency, exercise, money, minimalism, animal rescue, sewing, hobbies, recycling, veganism, lingerie, music, day trips, family, job, and any other topic that crosses my life.
My true love in life is helping out animals in need, currently I have two dogs and two cats that I rescued. I am hoping that one day I could have my own rescue for the "unadoptables". My heart goes out to the elderly and abused ones that need the most help.